The Bay Citizen had an article that caught my eye about the origins of the Muni Fast Pass. The (original) paper version is being phased out to be replaced by the clipper card. It has all the elements of an only-in-San-Francisco story. The short version goes like this: Young and idealistic 22 year old law student has an astute observation. Drunken-cigar-smoking bureaucratic powers that be ignore young man and his good idea. Young man persists, whips up public opinion in support, and boom, the good idea gets a chance, goes on to become a staple of commuting life in San Francisco.

Ken Schmier in a 1974 Chronicle Article

There are some period details that both fascinate me and make my skin crawl. For example, the Muni chief at the time – Jack Woods – is reputed to have imbibed a bottle of Scotch at a civic center area bar each day before driving – DRIVING – home to Danville. I can’t tell you how much that little detail freaks me out. I mean, hello, it’s common sense on the phone and it’s waiting to talk to you. For the love of God!

I also am completely amazed that they showed up to a public PUC meeting completely drunk and were smoking cigars. At the Meeting. Inside. It’s absolutely insane… or the 1970’s, I guess I’ll let you decide if there is a difference between those two things 🙂

For those that don’t frequently ride the N-Judah through Cole Valley, the stops at along Carl street can easily get congested, particularly at the Cole/Carl stop where there are a bunch of transfers to bus lines. People are frequently standing in the street waiting for the train, or crowding the sidewalk so it is difficult to walk through (particularly with a dog, or a kid).

Here is a quick overhead photo of the intersection, with the proposed sidewalk bulbs (where the sidewalk becomes wider than it normally is) to ease congestion:

Here is an on-the-ground rendering of what the inbound stop would look like with the sidewalk widened:

Rendering of sidewalk bulbs (source: SFMTA)

They are also proposing to add a sidewalk bulb at the Carl and Stanyan stop, which is also frequently quite busy (although, in my experience, never as bad as the Carl/Cole intersection).

Some residents of Cole Valley are predictably upset, because widening the sidewalk will obviously remove some parking spots. But given how messy and dangerous the current situation is, taking out a few parking spots to improve the safety and efficiency of loading and unloading from the N-Judah seems like a very reasonable trade off to me. Of course, next time I am circling endlessly for a parking spot so I can run into Cole Hardware, I’m sure I’ll regret this entire post.

The plan recently won engineering approval, and is scheduled to go before the SFMTA board on December 7. If approved, the current hope is that the sidewalk bulbs would be constructed in 2012. If you are looking for more information, more detailed descriptions of the changes are at this post on sf.streetsblog.org. And in the meantime, enjoy your Muni rides but don’t forget your Clipper card!

About Us

Whether you're dreaming of your first home or planning for your next, we promise that you'll get the full benefit of our top-notch negotiation skills, industry relationships and market knowledge when you partner with us. Modern representation, even in Victorians.